Opening this week

In this image released by Sony Pictures Classics, Josh Peck, right, and Ben Kingsley are shown in a scene from, "The Wackness." (AP Photo/Sony Pictures Classics) ** NO SALES **

In this image released by Sony Pictures Classics, Josh Peck, right, and Ben Kingsley are shown in a scene from, "The Wackness." (AP Photo/Sony Pictures Classics) ** NO SALES **

Photo: JoJo Whilden, AP

Photo: JoJo Whilden, AP

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In this image released by Sony Pictures Classics, Josh Peck, right, and Ben Kingsley are shown in a scene from, "The Wackness." (AP Photo/Sony Pictures Classics) ** NO SALES **

In this image released by Sony Pictures Classics, Josh Peck, right, and Ben Kingsley are shown in a scene from, "The Wackness." (AP Photo/Sony Pictures Classics) ** NO SALES **

Photo: JoJo Whilden, AP

Opening this week

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Blind Mountain A horrific and little-known practice in China - bride trafficking - is exposed in this tense drama. A recent college graduate is conned, then sold as a wife and kept captive in a remote village. Director Li Yang made the equally brutal 2003 thriller "Blind Shaft," about murderous con artists. Not rated. At the Sundance Kabuki.

The Edge of Heaven Fatih Akin, writer-director of the searing drama "Head-On," returns with another story of people straddling Turkish and German cultures. Bonds are formed between an old man (celebrated Turkish actor Tuncel Kurtiz) and a prostitute, and between two women from different backgrounds. And then fate plays its part. Not rated. At the Sundance Kabuki and the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army Guillermo del Toro, brilliant conjurer of spooky creatures and dark places in "Pan's Labyrinth," takes up the further adventures of the irascible, wisecracking red giant Hellboy in this comic book adaptation. Employed by the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, Hellboy (Ron Perlman) takes on a netherworld of slimy, fearsome monsters that have it out for humans. Selma Blair and John Hurt return. Rated PG-13. At Bay Area theaters.

Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D The visionary science fiction writer Jules Verne foresaw space travel, automobiles and television. And as this movie inspired by his novel proves, once and for all, Tyrannosaurus rexes live deep inside the planet. Brendan Fraser, Hollywood's go-to guy for slapsticky adventure movies, leads a gang that finds itself face to face with dinosaurs and other threats in the toasty confines of Mother Earth. Directing debut of visual effects specialist Eric Brevig. Rated PG. At Bay Area theaters.

Meet Dave The latest Eddie Murphy vehicle, in more ways than one. The actor not only plays the captain of an alien spaceship visiting Earth - but he's also the spaceship itself, cunningly disguised as the man who starred in "Norbit." In New York, Dave's outdated "Saturday Night Fever" three-piece suit isn't the only thing that makes him stand out as a clueless out-of-towner. Rated PG. At Bay Area theaters.

My Father My Lord Menahem is an only child in an ultra-Orthodox community in this Israeli drama. He lives a carefree life, playing in the synagogue where his father (veteran actor Assi Dayan) is a rabbi. But when the boy begins to ask questions that any child would ask about his surroundings, his father becomes stern. Ultimately, his authoritarianism has tragic consequences. This first feature by David Volach - who grew up in an ultra-Orthodox family of 19 children - won the best film prize at the Tribeca Film Festival. Not rated. At the Lumiere and the Shattuck in Berkeley.

Tell No One A man's wife is murdered, or so he believes, but eight years later he sees a video of her, which sets in motion a thriller that recalls Hitchcock's "Wrong Man." Actor-director Guillaume Canet adapted the fast-paced story from the best-selling novel by American novelist Harlen Coben. The film was a box-office hit in France. Not rated. At the Embarcadero.

The Wackness The ethically challenged psychiatrist played by Gabriel Byrne in HBO's "In Treatment" seems saintly when compared to the shrink in this coming-of-age comic drama. Dr. Squires (Ben Kingsley) treats a teenage drug dealer (Josh Peck) in exchange for pot; meantime, he's losing his wife (Famke Janssen) and decides to go out galavanting with his young patient. But things get messy when the kid starts dating the doctor's stepdaughter (Olivia Thirlby, "Juno"). Jonathan Levine's semiautobiographical film won the audience award at Sundance. Rated R. At Bay Area theaters.

Water Lilies Synchronized swimming unites three teenage girls in a Paris suburb. But outside the pool, it's chaos. Each plays games with the others as they compete over crushes (not all boys). The first feature by writer-director Céline Sciamma. Not rated. At the Opera Plaza and the Shattuck in Berkeley.